, 1887-07-02
ABOUT JAPANESE NEWSPAPERS.
what They Exist for and How They Are
Made Up.

What They Exist for and How They Are
Made Up.
Toxic alone has steven daily and clever,
weekly papers, only two of which are
printed iii the English language. Maya
saki has u japanese daily and an English
weekly.
Eighteen other japanese towns support
at least one daily paper each. They are
all large, handsome sheets, printed on
good paper. in type which even the west
ern eye, u~ninstructed save by the casual
perusal of tea chests, can see is good, bold
and handsome-for that kind of type.
Where the type is cast l cannot say, but
if the Japanese can cut the punches for
these intricate hieroglyphics, they must
be wonderfully well advanced in the me-
chanical arts.
Curious looking sheets they are, these
Japanese papers, but they are doing a
noble work, and before describing them
in detail it may be well to explain their
mission. They do not go in very strongly
for news. Their purpose is chiefly edu-
cational. The tradition seems to survive
in the navy, judging from late events.
These papers, printed in their own tongue,
are doing the work of gentlemen ushers
to civilization. introducing the Japanese
to the world at large. Their columns are
largely filled with translations from Eng
fish and American papers and accounts
of the doings of civilized people.
The truly japanese papers have their
little peculiaritie5. The title seems to
have no particular fixed place, except
that it must be on the last page. 1 fancy
they generally make up the rest of the
paper first and then throw the title in
anywhere on the fourth page, unless an
''ad" comes in at the last minute, when
they leave it out altogether. 1 am not
sure of this, for l have never seen a
japanese paper made up; 1 only judge so
from the fact that there are always three
or four immense hieroglyphs of a very
t~eachesty character rambling around
these japanese fourth pages, with a
strong tendency toward the upper right
hand corner, which is where, / sm given
to understand, the japanese paper COM
mences. However, 1 may be all wrong.
These mammoth characters may only DO
displayed ads for aught 1 know. They
occur in every paper, and all look alike.
A Japanese newspaper doesn't need a
title anyhow. They are all ''shimbuns."
means newspaper" in jap
anese, and the japanese are a plain
spoken race, and believe in calling a
''shimbun" q "shimbun." They venture
SO far as to use a qualifying word if there
is more than one '.shimbun" in the place,
or if the ''shimbun" is some particular
sort of 'shimbun." Thus there are
mainichi ~(morning), nichi daily, eirl
Gllustrated), daimos (of1iciaD and other
~''shimbuns, " but the last title fits them
all, and this, though monotonous, is
sensible. You may name a ''shimbun''
after all the luminaries of heaven, and
still it remains, in truth and in fact, only
a ''shimbun."
The japanese newspapers are a little
confusing to read until one gets used to
them, but generally their makeup is as
follows: The fourth page seems to be de-
voted to news items and clippings. They
are a little careless about crediting. 1
have not been able TO find a single credit
unless something Japanese, which, looks
like q centipede in a fit and occurs fire.
quently, means exchange" The third
page is given up to editorials and the
second to a feuilleton. l am not sure of
the editorials, but l am confident of the
feuilleton. 1t has that solid four column
and a half look about tit brearhes that
odor of utter inanity which marks the
newspaper short (shortl heaven ave the
mark) story. Besides, it has a picture as
a rule. This seems to dispel the other
wise reasonable idea that it is an editorial
on a subject which has thoroughly
roused the editor. The first (last) a
though, is the most Ineligible and in
teresting after all, for here are the adj
vertisements. Here we find the cuts
familiar to us from our earliest days.
The monster bottles Of various bitters,
bnor- nal ,tHn- l;n,;l, -,al;a;-o1 ,-l
Intoxicating; the man with two wooden
legs, who, presumably, is the only mar
in town who does not get his shoes Of
Katayama Seitaso. and others which l
positively decline to mention, except in the
advertising columns at the regular rates.
And the gorgeous japanese display
lads" l have hkened, by implication,
the body of these papers to the outer
cuticle of q tea chest; but as for these
lads" the tea chest lis fools to 'em."-
Cor, Electrical World.